Civil
Twilight
Mandy
M.
Roth
Author’s
Series
Note
Each
book
in
the
Project
Exorcism
series
is
written
to
stand
alone;
however,
I do
recommend
reading
them
in
order
to
maximize
reading
pleasure.
To
aid
any
who
have
not,
as
of
yet,
read
the
other
books,
or
any
who
are
simply
looking
for
a
refresher,
I
thought
this
introduction
might
help.
Series
background:
Twenty-third
century—Man
has
long
since
achieved
space
travel.
Almost
all
planets
in
the
known
universe
are
part
of
the
Commission,
an
intergalactic
governing
body
that
oversees
the
well-being
of
all
within
its
quadrants.
Supernatural
creatures
were
discovered
among
us
in
the
twenty-first
century
and
witchhunts
quickly
began
to
rid
Earth
of
them.
A
battle
broke
out
and
Earth’s
human
population
dropped.
In
the
end,
humans
were
victorious,
but
only
because
a
few
select
figureheads
in
the
supernatural
world
agreed
to
the
terms
of a
peace
treaty.
The
terms
were
simple.
The
supernaturals
were
to
be
escorted
off
planet
Earth
and
relocated
on
other
planets,
ones
that
were
not
part
of
the
Commission’s
territory.
Ones
that
were
agreed
upon
ahead
of
time,
and
ones
on
which
the
supernaturals
would
not
be a
threat.
Thus
began
Project
Exorcism.
Five
vessels
set
out
on
this
mission.
Only
one
arrived
at
its
chosen
destination.
The
others
were
thought
lost
during
the
meteoroid
shower
that
occurred
shortly
after
takeoff.
Man
now
faces
a
new
threat,
only
they
are
unaware
of
it.
By
shipping
the
supernaturals
off,
they
unknowingly
gave
them
access
to
other
planets’
resources,
including
added
magikal
abilities,
the
ability
to
breed
with
their
inhabitants,
and
so
very
much
more.
Prologue
Nearing
planet
Sargaidia,
onboard
one
of
the
Project
Exorcism
vessels,
year
2056…
Vessel
sirens
continued
to
blare,
announcing
what
Stegian
already
knew,
the
ship
was
in
trouble.
It
had
gotten
swept
into
what
he
could
assume
were
stellar
remains.
The
ship
had
been
plagued
with
issues
since
its
launch.
Stegian
knew
why.
Those
who
had
forced
his
kind
from
Earth
cared
little
about
their
safety,
only
that
they
left
the
planet.
The
brains
behind
Project
Exorcism
had
thought
as
far
as
getting
supernaturals
off
the
planet
and
out
of
the
range
of
Earth.
They'd
sworn
in
negotiations
that
the
planets
they'd
sought
out
were
safe
havens
and
new
starts
for
the
supernaturals.
It,
like
everything
else,
had
been
lies.
He
was
sure
of
it.
He'd
been
a
fool
to
believe
them—to
think
mankind
had
an
ounce
of
decency
left
in
it.
Now,
countless
light
years
from
home,
their
ship
was
damaged
because
of
stellar
remains.
The
pilot
of
the
vessel
swore
the
anomaly
was
rare
and
not
showing
on
his
instrument
panel.
Stegian
believed
the
young
vampire.
He
had
nothing
to
gain
by
lying.
He
was
as
trapped
on
the
ship
as
the
rest
of
them
were.
Problem
was
the
young
vampire
wasn't
as
trained
as
he
should
have
been.
None
of
the
supposed
pilots
were.
They'd
been
put
through
a
crash
course
on
the
matter
prior
to
their
departure.
As
had
all
members
of
the
crew.
Stegian
scanned
the
panels,
doing
his
best
to
assess
the
damage
to
the
ship.
Two
of
the
port
side
thrusters
were
completely
gone
and
failing
to
respond
in
any
way.
Already
the
ship
had
begun
to
list
to
one
side,
something
it
should
never
do—that
much
he
was
sure
of.
It
wasn't
like
space
travel
was
totally
foreign
to
him.
He,
like
any
other
well-to-do
resident
of
Earth,
had
visited
other
planets
for
vacation—though
he
was
careful
to
select
ones
that
didn't
have
much
in
the
way
of
sunlight.
Being
a
vampire
left
him
unable
to
wake
in
the
sun's
rays.
He
missed
it
but
couldn't
dwell,
not
when
the
ship
he
was
onboard
was
in
such
dire
jeopardy.
Varying
people
on
board
moved
quickly
from
location
to
location,
none
seeming
to
know
what
to
do.
Pandemonium
broke
out.
Several
of
the
banshees
onboard
continued
to
wail,
as
if
everyone
around
them
wasn't
smart
enough
to
figure
out
people
were
going
to
die.
They
didn't
need
a
supernatural
alarm
stating
the
obvious.
A
shifter
spun
quickly,
knocking
one
of
the
banshees
out
cold.
Stegian
wasn't
big
on
violence
but
even
he'd
wanted
to
silence
her.
People
rushed
around
like
mad
as
the
ship
pitched
hard
to
the
right
and
then
shook
violently.
He
had
to
reach
out
to
steady
himself
or
he
too
would
have
fallen,
like
so
many
others
had.
Sirens
blared
and
alert
lights
beeped.
The
computer
continued
to
read
out
different,
yet
equally
as
depressing
outcomes.
“We’re
gonna
die,”
one
of
the
men
yelled.
Another
snorted.
“We’ve
been
as
good
as
dead
since
the
day
they
loaded
us
onto
this
ship
like
cattle,”
another
returned.
Stegian
staggered
towards
the
control
panels.
The
young
vampire
pilot
was
hurt
and
currently
having
his
wounds
tended
to.
While
he
would
eventually
heal,
there
was
no
fresh
blood
at
the
ready
so
the
medical
staff
needed
to
try
to
stop
the
rapid
rate
of
his
blood
loss.
A
fill-in
pilot,
one
with
limited
training,
was
doing
his
best
to
gain
control
of
the
ship.
It
wasn’t
working.
“Life
support
systems
are
down,”
Stegian
said,
remaining
calm
in
the
face
of
certain
death.
“I
can
try
to
land
it,”
Yunoc,
the
young
male
shifter
who
was
doing
his
best
to
pilot
the
vessel,
said.
“At
our
excepted
rate
of
entry
and
with
the
velocity
we
are
traveling
at,
there
is a
good
chance
we
could
burn
up
in
the
atmosphere.”
“Do
your
best,”
said
Stegian,
bracing
himself
in
the
co-pilot
chair.
A
planet
came
into
view
and
Yunoc
focused
on
aiming
the
craft
in
that
direction.
“No
promises.”
A
natural
leader,
Stegian
was
often
who
the
people
aboard
the
spaceship
turned
to.
He’d
been
instrumental
in
negotiations
with
the
humans
on
Earth
and
had
done
his
best
to
prevent
anymore
loss
of
lives
due
to
ignorance
and
fear
of
supernaturals.
“Try
to
land
us.”
He
sucked
in a
hasty
breath
and
prepared
for
rapid
decent.
It
came
with
a
vengeance.
He
was
thrown
free
of
the
pilot
area
and
slammed
face
first
into
a
wall.
Pain
exploded
throughout
him,
and
he
was
fairly
certain
he'd
broken
multiple
bones,
and
they
hadn't
even
impacted
yet.
It
came
with
a
shuddering,
thundering
thud
and
all
around
him
went
black
for
a
moment.
Stegian
pushed
off
of
the
unforgiving
inner
shell
of
the
vessel
he’d
been
banished
to
one
year
prior.
The
smell
of
smoke
and
charred
remains
coated
the
area.
While
he
didn’t
quite
know
the
extent
of
injuries
on
the
ship,
his
senses
told
him
they
were
grave
and
many.
As
if
the
ship’s
crew
hadn’t
been
through
enough
already.
He
snarled
at
the
thought
of
the
ignorant
humans
who
had
herded
him
and
the
other
supernaturals
like
cattle
onto
the
vessels,
hoping
to
rid
Earth
of
them
for
good.
Their
fear
of
what
they
did
not
understand
prompted
sanctions
and
even
saw
death
squads
coming
to
be.
These
squads
had
one
mission,
find
and
eliminate
supernaturals.
Stegian
and
a
few
select
other
figureheads
had
tried
to
reason
with
the
humans.
He’d
tried
to
make
them
understand
they
did
not
have
to
live
in
fear
of
them.
That
supernaturals
would
police
themselves
as
they
had
always
done,
but
his
pleas
fell
upon
deaf
ears.
Soon,
backlash
from
the
death
squads
rippled
through
the
supernatural
community
and
attacks
on
humans
began.
From
there,
it
was
all
downhill.
Now,
one
year
later,
but
in
truth,
many
a
light
year
later,
thanks
to
the
courtesy
of
accelerated
speeds
and
state-of-the-art
highly
efficient
thrust-to-weight
ratios,
Stegian
and
his
people
were
far,
far
from
Earth
and
its
reaches.
They
were,
according
to
his
calculations,
far
off
their
original
course
as
well.
They’d
encountered
meteor
showers
shortly
after
departing
Earth
and
had
never
quite
been
able
to
get
their
navigational
maps
back
up
and
running
to
standard.
No
surprise.
It
wasn’t
as
if
the
people
running
the
vessel
were
top
notch.
They’d
been
lucky
to
have
anyone
on
board
who
could
pilot
the
ship.
Two
of
the
vessels
the
supernaturals
were
herded
upon
had
men
who
had
to
be
trained
on
the
spot
to
fly
them.
It
wasn’t
as
if
humans
would
risk
or
give
up
their
valued
human,
qualified
pilots.
